In

He made several visits to the Hermitage during his student days in Nashville, and there laid the foundation for a friendship which served him well in after times. The attachment between General Jackson and himself was mutual, and lasted to the end of the old hero's life. At this time he began to imbibe Jackson's political principles, and was, no doubt, greatly influenced by him in his public career. the winter of 1820 he was admitted to the bar, and, returning to his father's, established himself in the practice of his profession at Columbia. His family influences were favorable to his success; and, above all, his known principles, habits, and reputation for painstaking and methodical labor placed him on a good footing at once with the community.

"His thorough academical preparation, his accurate knowledge of the law, his readiness and resources in debate, his unwearied application to business secured him, at once, full employment, and, in less than a year, he was already a leading practitioner. Such prompt success in a profession where the early stages are proverbially slow and discouraging, falls to the lot of few."

Thus wrote one of his admirers in 1838. He did not, however, rise to great distinction as a lawyer, although his reputation as a reliable, accurate, and laborious practitioner was of the first importance. The always fair and generous Henry S. Foote said, substantially, of him: "Of gentle, unobtrusive, conciliatory manners; upright and moral conduct; able as a lawyer, but entered political life before he attained that eminence at the bar to which

he aspired, as a popular speaker he, perhaps, has not had a superior in Tennessee."

His law business became quite extensive and profitable, and, although mainly practicing alone, at different times he had associated with him some of the most considerable men of the profession, among whom were Aaron Vail Brown and Gideon J. Pillow. As a political speaker he quite early took a first rank in his State. This was, however, not owing to intense or extravagant declamation. Few men of learning have been able to distinguish themselves in their public addresses by less of the foolish affectation and display of the technical formulas of learning than was Mr. Polk. There were men who, perhaps, in other respects were tolerable judges, who did consider Polk a slow, spiritless, and unattractive speaker for this very reason. He wanted,

they held, that fire which came from rhetorical display, ad captandum appeals, and far-off "classic" affectations, as well as the magic of deep and widespread learning. That he did lack all of these there need be no question, but only the latter was a defect. His speeches never showed him to be one of those that

"Pluck bright honors from the pale-faced moon,

Or dive into the bottom of the deep,

And drag up drowned honor by the locks."

If such is to be an orator Polk never was one. He was a calm, argumentative speaker; dealt with the facts directly concerning the subject; with

studious precision arranged these to give greatest possible force; relied but little on collateral or farfetched illustrations; and showed, by his great earnestness, that he had faith in his own utterances. He was one of the most sound, convincing, satisfactory, and reliable political speakers of his day.

CHAPTER III.

POLK AS A POLITICIAN-IN THE STATE LEGISLATUREIN CONGRESS-MR, SPEAKER POLK.

R. POLK began his political career as a member

MR.

of the Legislature in the fall of 1823, having two years previously, however, served as Chief Clerk of the Lower House in that body. He really took the "stump" for the first time in the summer of 1823, and, after a warm "canvass," defeated his opponent by a large majority at the polls. He entered the Legislature under very favorable circumstances, and his short service in that body strengthened his position before the public. His good sense, sound arguments, and admirable conduct made him at once a mark for a higher position. His father and family had been Democrats, and from association and principle he started out as a Democrat of the strictest sort himself, and in his after life there was little inconsistency in his course. He became a strong advocate of General Jackson's candidacy for the Presidency, and now had an opportunity to further his cause in that direction by aiding in his election to the United States Senate in the fall of 1823. Some of his first teachings came from Jackson, and, although a "strict constructionist," and greatly doubting the power of the General Government in reference to

internal improvements, he admitted that the Constitution should be amended to give the authority without doubt, and, in 1824, actually gave in to the belief that President Monroe had settled the question, and henceforward it would, perhaps, be the fixed policy of the Government to take charge of internal improvements, even to constructing roads of general importance through the States. This position he subsequently regarded as one of the few heresies of his immature political days, and returned with unswerving devotion to the original Democratic views on this subject. But the Constitution never was amended to relieve the scruples of the "strict constructionists," and long ago, in reference to internal improvements, this class of politicians passed away, all parties now striving to win public favor by advocating the greatest national expenditures in this direction.

A bill to prevent dueling in Tennessee was brought forward by Mr. Polk during this term of service in the Legislature, and through his exertions passed. In a community where dueling was fashionable, or, at least, tolerable, this was a daring step, and especially for a young legislator. But it illustrated his courage and his devotion to principles that the good judgment of all right-minded men would sustain. In the summer or spring of 1825, he became a candidate for representative from his district in Congress, and was elected. The issues at this time were not very important. In Tennessee the most prominent, perhaps, being the so-called frauds by